A planned acquisition of online direct marketing specialist TMN Group has fallen through after the would-be buyer failed to secure sufficient debt, according to a statement from TMN.

A planned acquisition of online direct marketing specialist TMN Group has fallen through after the would-be buyer failed to secure sufficient debt, according to a statement from TMN.

August Equity, which offered 70p per share for the AIM-listed company in May, was “unable to secure sufficient third-party debt financing to support an offer acceptable to the board”.

TMN’s share price on the day before the original offer was 39p. It rose 48 per cent to 57.75p on the day of the offer, and has now subsided to 30.5p, giving the company a market capitalisation of £23 million. However, the company insists that it is trading in line with expectations.

Chairman Peter Harkness said: “Whilst we understand that difficult debt market conditions have resulted in August Equity being unable to deliver an acceptable offer to the board, the board is united in its confidence in TMN’s future as a listed company.”

TMN chief executive Mark Smith said the group has shown “strong resilience” and is approaching the remainder of its current financial year, ending in April 2009, with “cautious optimism”.

TMN’s results for the year ending April 2008 will be released in the first week of September.